Injured oilfield workers are flocking to hospitals in North Dakota, which has had an oil boom. But this deluge of patients, many of them uninsured, is taxing the state’s health care system, according to The New York Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/28/us/boom-in-north-dakota-weighs-heavily-on-health-care.html?_r=0
The story, “An Oil Boom Takes a Toll on Health Care: North Dakota Hospitals Grapple With Rising Debt and a Flood of Patients,” illustrates what I already know. The oil industry is an extremely dangerous one for workers, who are falling off rigs or being injured in traffic accidents on now-crowded roads.
The story described the situation as laborers “flocking to dangerous jobs.”
The article focuses on McKenzie County Hospital in Warford City. Three years ago, the medical facility was averaging 100 emergency visits a month. With the oil boom, last year that number jumped to 400, according to The Times.
The newspaper also reported that the number of traumatic injuries has risen 200 percent from 2007 to the first half of last year.
It all offers real insight into what is happening in North Dakota.